HP announces new printing technology with an edge

Hewlett Packard has unveiled a new ink-based printhead technology that the company believes will help it capture a combined market worth $US30 billion.

Dubbed Edgeline and announced at HP's Enterprise Imaging and Printing Press and Analyst Conference, the technology features two adjacent four-inch wide printheads to distribute ink across the breadth of a page in one pass. Each printhead is made up of five smaller interlacing printheads.

The printhead remains in a fixed position which allows the paper to move quickly through the print device. This enables print jobs to be completed at greater speeds than printers that use conventional technology where printheads must move to distribute ink.

The Edgeline technology marks a major shift in printing architecture, claimed HP executive vice-president of the Imaging and Printing Group, Vyomesh Joshi. "This technology doesn't just print pages out, it screams them out."

He said printers using Edgeline technology would be targeted at a range of industries ranging from graphic design to retail photo finishing, representing a market estimated to be worth $US30 billion dollars by 2009.

HP already use the technology in HP retail photo kiosks in Japan and plan to bring the technology to Australia, Joshi said. General release of the technology for specialised business print units is expected in November 2007.

HP also announced its largest ever rollout of multifunction printers, a universal printer drive for all HP printers and the Asia Pacific launch of its video collaboration studio, Halo.

Mitchell Bingemann was a guest of the HP at its Enterprise Imaging and Printing Press and Analyst Conference.

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